All the latest news & events from BGGS December 2013

the LEADER

At Bradford Girls’ Grammar School we understand that an essential component in educating the whole child is concerned with encouraging pupils to become involved in initiatives which put other people and their needs at the centre. Looking back on this term’s whirlwind of fundraising activity which has raised over £3,500, it is clear that in this area of school life, pupils do not need to be persuaded and wholeheartedly embrace this school ethos.

As we approach the time of year when our thoughts centre around family and friends, it is particularly commendable that boys and girls across the whole school have reached out to those less fortunate both in the local community and around the world.

Whilst every school supports the national campaigns such as Children in Need and World Aids Day, pupils at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School go one step further and initiate their own fundraising activities, selecting a wide and diverse range of organisations to support, often in response to world events such as the recent devastation in the Philippines.

I am very proud of all our pupils’ achievements and recognise the value of your continued support. May I take this opportunity to wish you all good health and happiness over the festive period.

A Community Focus

LEAP TEAM SET FOR RETAIL SUCCESSA team of sixth form business students are taking part in the Leeds Enterprise Advisory Programme (LEAP), a business initiative which enables students to set up their own company for a school year. ‘The LEAP programme offers our sixth form students a unique opportunity to gain hands on business experience’, said Mrs Howarth, LEAP Coordinator. ‘Students learn first-hand the skills necessary to run a successful business’.

Following a business training day at Allerton High School at the beginning of October the team of eight students worked together to develop their LEAP company ‘House of Quirk’; a name chosen to reflect their proposed ‘quirky’ product range.

Primarily sourced from China, the House of Quirk’s accessory range mainly focused on the current fashion trend – the quirky 2-D cartoon-type handbags recently seen on the arm of many young celebrities, including Katy Perry. Hoping to benefit from Christmas sales the team promoted their products through social media: twitter @HouseOfQuirk and Instagram @House_Of_Quirk with significant interest generated through Facebook.

The team then took the opportunity to showcase their products and sell to the general public at a trade event held at the Leeds Merrion Centre on Saturday 7 December, alongside 25 other LEAP companies from six other Yorkshire schools who were also taking part in the programme.

On the day, House of Quirk virtually cleared their initial stock and were awarded Runners Up in the competition for ‘Best Retail Trade Stand’, receiving significant praise from the panel of judges from the LEAP Advisory Committee. ‘We were very impressed with this team’ said Miles Mount, Founder of LEAP. ‘From the start they took the initiative and were very specific about the position of their stand. The visual impact, coupled with a Quirky and unique product range really stood out from the competition’.

The LEAP team will continue to trade up until the end of the school year in a competition against the other LEAP teams. All profits will then be donated to two main charities: Text Santa and The Penny Appeal.

The LEAP Team are: Aisha Karim, Zohra Zahid, Shamaailah Baig, Momina Mahmood, Sarah Zahid, Gahad Ashour, Aisha Hussain and Sabeena Hafeez

1Bradford Girls' Grammar School, Squire Lane, Bradford BD9 6RB Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

DRAMA PRODUCTION –

‘ANNIE’Pupils from senior school will take part in this year’s drama production of ‘Annie’ on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th February. With the visiting canine thespian ‘Buttons’ staring as Sandy, orphan Annie’s four-legged companion, it is sure to be another award-winning drama success, with tickets expected to sell out quickly.

Tickets will go on sale after the Christmas break and will be priced at £5 for adults and £3 for children. So put a date in your diary!

The Battlefields Trip On Thursday 3 October Year 10 history students set off on a three day trip to visit the battlefields of Belgium and France, where some of the most horrific and prolonged fighting took place in the First World War.

On the Friday the group visited the Somme, an area in France where the largest battle of the war took place with over a million men wounded or killed. Students stopped at the Indian memorial at Neuve Chapelle and the nearby Anglo-Indian cemetery which commemorate the soldiers who fought in the British Indian Army and the Ulster Tower, a memorial to the men from Northern Ireland.

The end of the first day concluded with a walk to Serre Road where nearly 2,000 young men from Bradford, known as the Bradford Pals were either injured or killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, marking July 1st 1916 as the most devastating single day ever experienced by the British army.

The following day’s tour of Ypres commenced with a visit to the Passchendaele museum with the opportunity to explore the reconstructed trenches and try to get a feel for the harrowing conditions endured by the British soldiers. Students also visited the

largest British cemetery, Tyne Cot, where acres of white gravestones are laid, stretching towards the slopes of Passchendaele. On the Saturday evening students attended the Last Post ceremony and laid a wreath under the Menin Gate.

On the final day the group travelled to Mons where the first and last shots of the First World War were fired. Here they visited the memorials to both these events which poignantly were set almost opposite each other.

2

NETBALLROUND-UPThe Netball season got off to a flying start for senior girls with the U19’s team coming third in the Bradford Netball Championship Senior Tournament – a round robin competition against eight other teams. The U14’s netball team also played well in their ‘eliminator’ competition, sailing through to the semi-finals and narrowly missing a place in the final. Three of the players from Year 8, Ezaa Shah, Yuvsri Ramaswamy and Hana Habib, were particularly impressive and have since been selected to play for the U13’s Bradford Schools’ Netball Squad.

Senior Maths ChallengeAt the beginning of November sixth form students took part in the Senior Maths Challenge, the UK's largest mathematics competition which annually sees over 100,000 pupils from across the country taking part. Although aimed at students from Year 12 and 13, this year saw Ezra Khan entering from Year 11 who was awarded both ‘Best in Year’ and Silver certificates and Leana Patel, once again taking Best in School.

All out students performed well with particular congratulations to:

BEST IN YEAR AND SILVER

Jasmine Sharp Y12

Leana Patel Y13

SILVER

Gahad Ashour Y12

Ghania Tahir Y12

BRONZE

Ikrah Iman Y12

Aisha Mahmood Y13

Aisha Asghar Y13

Ashmita Singh Y13

Follow us on Twitter @BGGSchool Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

Duke of Edinburgh Expedition News

Bronze & Silver PracticeOn the weekend of 28 September, thirty Year 10 students accompanied by seven members of staff walked from Malham to Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales as part of their DofE practice expedition.

With unseasonably kind weather, all students demonstrated highly competent camp craft and navigational skills to the standard required to take part in the assessment weekend scheduled for the summer term. The group was also joined by a number of Year 11 and Year 13 students who were taking part in the expedition as their assessment. These students also demonstrated competent skills enabling them to finally complete their Bronze Award.

The Year 13 and Year 11 group were once again in action in the Dales in mid-October where they were joined by nine other members of the Year 11, to complete their Silver practice. With a more challenging route and very wet conditions, following a spectacular thunderstorm, students coped admirably with only one sprained ankle to test Mrs Bostrom’s first aid skills. All students completed the challenge on time with the level of competency required to take part in their assessment expedition in April.

The Annual Lane Fox ChallengeOn an early October weekend, Mr Warren, assisted by Miss Jackson, took two teams to the Annual Lane Fox Challenge, run by the Bradford Area Duke of Edinburgh Office at Parkwood Off-road Centre in Tong. The group battled it out against other Duke of Edinburgh groups with a series of timed team challenges starting with the customary lake crossing on a raft where one member of Mr Warren’s team immediately fell in the freezing water, setting the tone for a wet and muddy day.

Competition amongst the teams was fierce with the fastest teams separated by only a matter of a few minutes but the girls pulled together and completed the course in good time. Despite the conditions students and staff thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this unique event.

Many thanks to all the parents, students and staff whose support allows the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to continue and in particular to Mrs Naisbit who assisted on the practice expedition at such short notice.

3

2013 OGU REUNION LUNCHOver 50 former pupils of the school travelled from different parts of the country to attend the Open Morning and the Old Girls’ reunion lunch on Saturday 28 September. Cynthia Micheletti nee Robertshaw (BGGS 1950-1958), who attends every year, travelled from Germany while Sue Sayles nee Wilkinson (BGGS 1963-1970) made a special journey from France.

Members were delighted to be met by current pupils and given a tour of the school, showing particular interest in the school archives and the old library. Rachel Killock nee Mason (BGGS 1953-60) and Gillian Haigh nee Dracup (BGGS 1953-60) (pictured above) were particularly thrilled to find themselves on a photograph in the school gallery.

Old Girls enjoyed looking through the archive of old photographs and school publications, and Beverly Hills nee White (BGGS 1962-69) recognised many of her friends in a 1968 edition of the school newsletter, The Chronicle.

After the tour, the old Girls were escorted to the dining room for a delicious lunch and the chance to catch up with old friends, some of whom had not seen each other for over 20 years. Everyone agreed that it had been a successful and memorable day.

Well done to Year 7 girls Hadia Arshard and Josie Baker who held their own one mile sponsored swim to raise funds for the recent Philippines Disaster. Between them they completed 33 lengths each and raised over £200 for charity. Year 8 pupil Charlotte Nunn, also a keen swimmer, used her talents to raise £155 with a commendable 80 lengths swim.

Swimming for Charity

Follow us on Twitter @BGGSchool Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

FUNDRAISING WORLD CHALLENGE 2014

Jeans for Genes On 20 September, pupils and staff donated £1 to the ‘Jeans for Genes’ charity for the privilege of wearing their jeans to school for the day. A total of £465 was raised for this charity which benefits children with genetic disorders.

Refuge for Women During the Harvest Festival pupils collected over 200 various tinned and dried food items to make up hampers for Refuge, a charity which provides emergency accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence.

ChildrenIn NeedFriday 15 November saw a huge, ‘non-uniform come to school in your onesies’ fundraising day’ for Children in Need. A giant Pudsey Bear, drawn with the yellow hand prints of pupils from across the school, acted as back drop for a host of activities throughout the day, including a teacher’s science versus humanities quiz, a fashion show and a craft and sweets bazaar. The total raise by the senior school was a magnificent £1,300, well done to all the pupils and staff who took part.

4

TRAINING EXPEDITIONAt the end of October the 2014 World Challenge team of 14 girls, along with Miss Jackson and Miss Heathcote, went on a training expedition weekend to Hexham in Northumbria. The team spent the weekend learning about camp craft, survival and cultural issues with each member of the group learning how to plan and take it in turns to lead the group.

With safety, security awareness and team collaboration all key elements to their training, members learned how to deal with any emergency or unplanned event from lost or injured team members, to stolen equipment or river crossings. Despite the heavy bags, long walks and heavy rain which tested everyone’s endurance and fitness, they all agreed it was a challenging but exhilarating few days with the team now looking forward to their expedition in July.

FUNDRAISING FOR WORLD CHALLENGEFundraising efforts among Year 11 girls are well underway for their scheduled World Challenge Expedition to Malawi in July. Each girl is currently well on track to raise the £3,700 required for the educational four-week trip, with discos, bun sales... and even Demini Patel planning a bungee next term. Here, sixth form pupil, Henna Mahmood reports on her courageous sponsored abseil completed on Sunday 22 September.

The height of the Bell Tower at Manchester’s Trafford Centre is 60 metres and I know because I abseiled down it! I have only ever been abseiling once and luckily it was the week before my sponsored abseil when I went on the school trip to Ullswater.

When I arrived at the Trafford Centre I was more worried about how I was supposed to abseil than the 60 metre drop. The worst part was actually getting to the top which involved a walk up the extremely long flight of stairs. I thought there would have at least been an elevator! By the time I reached the top I was out of breath and I almost wanted to give up there and then because I just had no energy left. However, I did manage to regain my breath whilst I was waiting in line and watched the demonstration on how to abseil, which was a great help. Although I only had to wait ten minutes it felt like it had only been a second.

Strapped securely into the harness, I then had to stand out onto the platform. Even though people tell you not to look down I couldn't help myself and looked down the 60 metres below me. I was surprised to find that I was actually not scared. My fear just disappeared and it seemed quite easy coming down. I think my family were more scared than I was! Altogether I managed to raise about £400 for my sponsored abseil. The experience was really amazing and it is definitely something I will do again.

Scaling theBell Towerby Henna Mahmood

FUNDRAISING FORTHE DANCE SHOWStudents are currently raising funds for their upcoming Dance Show in March through Bag2School – an organisation that specialises in re-selling second hand textiles.

So why not have a good clear out of old soft toys, shoes and clothes before Christmas to make way for all your lovely Christmas presents and help our Dance club in the process? Just grab a blue bag from Miss Clayden in the PE Office and fill with your unwanted goods. Bag2School will then pay the school for each blue bag collected.

Follow us on Twitter @BGGSchool Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

5

Knit and Stitch Show Sixth Form art students attended the annual Knit and Stitch Show held at the Harrogate International Centre at the end of November. Now established as the largest and most highly regarded textiles and craft event in the UK, the four day textile extravaganza played host to a range of experimental textile artists, and presented students with the opportunity to talk to many well-known textile artists including Dorothy Caldwell, Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn whom they are currently studying.

On Tuesday 10 December the art department welcomed textile artist Diane Bates to host a day’s workshop with the sixth form students. The art students worked alongside Diane to learn her unique decorative techniques involving metallic threads, invisible fabric and wire stitched together to create elaborate and detailed laced pieces. Students were thrilled to be given the opportunity to work on their own designs under the guidance of such an established and talented artist who is renowned for her intricate, 3-dimensional embroidery and costume creations

WORKSHOP WITH DIANE BATES

On 2 December, as part of this term’s study of Art, Year 3 enjoyed a trip to Cartwright Hall in Bradford , home to a large collection of British painters and sculptors, including exhibits by local artists. ‘Pupils have been learning about art in all its different forms over this half term’ said Miss Thomson, ‘including pencil drawings, collage, watercolour, sculpture, print and photography as well as Art in ICT’.

At Cartwright Hall, the children made sketches of various pieces in the gallery before taking part in a workshop with local artist Naseem Derby. After showing the children the various sculptures around the gallery Naseem helped them create wire 3D sculptures of the Lady Hare and Minotaur by Sophie Ryder which they had covered in school, along with the stories from the Greek Myth Theseus and the Minotaur. Back in school, pupils then enjoyed used their sketches to make the own sculptor pieces.

Sculpting at Cartwright Hall

Swimming AwardsCongratulations to Laiba Hussain and Aisha Matib who have recently completed their GOLD ASA Swimming Challenge Award. The award requires swimmers to demonstrate key skills in the water including a 100m swim which has to be completed in 2.5 minutes using two different strokes and a longer timed 800m swim using three different strokes.

BRADFORD THROUGH THE LENSOn Wednesday 9 October, Year 13 art students and 3 Year 11 pupils attended a photography day which included two photography workshops at the National Media Museum. The first workshop covered the use of light in photography with the students creating LSD light photographs whilst the second involved a study of both historical and modern day photographs, learning how to look for the meaning behind an image.

Following the workshops students were split into groups and set a competition challenge; to create an image which represented ‘Bradford in the future’ and to give a reason behind their choice of photograph.

After an afternoon of taking photographs with their iPads, students submitted their entries to the museum judges. ‘All the entries were exceptional’ said Miss Frith, ‘but it was the entry from the group which included Ezra Khan, Safira Hussain, Dhanak Hussain and Emma Dean which particularly impressed the judges who awarded them the runner up prize’.

Art and Design

NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

Follow us on Twitter @BGGSchool @Lady_Royd Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

6

YEAR 5 MEET NINJA AUTHOR On Tuesday the 3rd December Year 5 visited Victoria Hall in Saltaire for a presentation by author Chris Bradford, a black belt martial artist who writes books about Samurai and Ninja in ancient Japan. Following a very interesting and entertaining presentation, and much to the delight of the Lady Royd pupils, he then demonstrated the skills needed to be a Ninja and Bushido warrior. Year 5 were then given the opportunity to meet the author and ask him questions about his action-packed martial arts books they were enjoying in literacy class.

The afterschool Forest Schools Club run by Miss Thomson, Mrs Harrison and Mrs Briggs for Year 1 and Year 2 pupils is proving

so popular that they now have plans to extend it to include the older pupils.

Pupils enjoy making use of the different seasonal materials found in the woodland area, from bonfire pictures and Christmas wreaths, to building dens and creating obstacle courses. Children learn all about the trees, with leaf and bark rubbings, and how to take care of the wildlife, making fat balls for the birds and small bug houses for the wide variety of insects.

Some of the girls in Year 5 and 6 are already preparing for their time in Forest Schools and have raised £35 for a new tree house. Well done girls!

Forest School Club

NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

This term Year 4 covered the IPC project ‘Paintings, Pictures and Photographs’ which encourages pupils to looks at a number of different artists and learn about their individual styles. On November 12 they enjoyed a visit to Cartwright Hall to look at the different work of art on show and to study how artists use different materials and techniques for their work. Pupils were particularly impressed by the works of Andy Warhol and Andy Goldsworthy whose styles they tried imitate back in the classroom. The visit concluded with a visit to the Fossil garden in the beautiful Lister Park.

Cartwright Halland the Exhibitions

A Marvellous Dahlicious Day

On Friday 13 September, children were invited to come to school dressed as one of their favourite characters from the hugely popular Roald Dahl books. With ‘The Witches’ obviously making a huge impression, a whole gathering of pointy hats and green faces lined up for morning registration along with an ‘Enormous Crocodile’ or two and many ‘Fantastic Mr Foxes’. Orange Oompa Loompas, Willy Wonka and Charlie with his golden ticket were all ready for a day of interesting and Marvellous activities. Mr Sheard delighted his class as he took registration dressed as the big-eared, but very friendly, BFG ‘Big Friendly Giant’.

Throughout the day cross-curricular activities centred around the books of the famous children’s author and by each donating £1 to take part in the Dahlicious Dress-Up Day, pupils and staff raised an incredible, £288 which was then donated to Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity .

On Friday 6 December pupils welcomed local author Tony Frias who wrote one of their favourite books ‘Noah’s Rocket’ and a series of books based around the intrepid ‘Stanley the Spider’. Bringing Stanley along for company, Tony read from one of books and answered questions from his audience of young fans.

Children were particularly interested to know how Tony had come up with the ideas for his books and why he had become an author. After explaining that the ideas simply came into his head and that he had not really set out to be an author, the children wanted to know about the process of writing a book. Tony explained that the hard part about writing was not just what to put in a story but actually what to keep out.

At the end of his session Tony asked the children to think about ideas for his next book and where Stanley should go for his next adventure. Ms Leary agreed that would be an excellent project to include in next term’s literacy work.

Local Author andStanley Spider Drop In

Follow us on Twitter @Lady_Royd Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

7

On a very cold morning on 28 November, Year 1 pupils wrapped up in their warmest winter wear went on a magical adventure to Stockeld Park in Wetherby. Through the Enchanted Forest with mystical animals and characters, past the beautiful lake with flamingos and angels and onto the Yew Tree Maze filled with musical instruments and mysterious sounds.

This 8ft high Yew Tree Maze was particularly popular with its mile of paths

with mysterious sounds and wonderful surprises hidden in its depths. Pupils enjoyed finding the musical instruments and discovering the Children of the World Globe at the centre.

‘The children all had a wonderful time and particularly loved getting lost in the maize’, said Mrs Bell. ‘It was lucky we had the Castle Viewing Tower. At one point we thought Mr Warner might be spending Christmas in there!’

A WINTER TRIP TO STOCKELD PARK

NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

‘All About Me’ at Eureka In early November Year 2 pupils enjoyed a trip to see the new interactive ‘All About Me’ gallery at Eureka in Halifax which provided an interesting and fascinating insight into the workings of the human body.

In the ‘Measuring & Looking Closer’ area pupils measured their height, stride and reach, and spent time finding out just what their bodies were made of whilst in ‘Let’s Get Active’ pupils discovered the impact of exercise on their body. The area ‘Our Brain & Senses’ offered an exploration of a blinking eye, a climb on the huge tongue and looking up a very surprising nose, while watching out for the sneeze and the ‘snot tanks’!

‘From the hands-on exhibits such as the hugely popular giant teeth to all the games and challenges, the Eureka exhibition provided an excellent learning experience’ said Miss Holden.

Eureka also proved a popular day out in December for Reception boys and girls. While the ‘All About Me’ was again very popular, especially the giant teeth, it was Jack Frost’s Winter Show that was the real highlight.

As part of the Autumn term’s topic ‘The Romans in Britain’, Year 4 welcomed a Roman citizen into school on Monday 23 September. Armed with various props and costumes this unusual visitor held a workshop to teach pupils all about day to day life in Britain under Roman occupation.

While some pupils were given the costumes of wealthy citizens, others were less fortunate and had to be Roman slaves for the day. Dressed in their Roman attire children learnt about the day to day life of their character, recreating a market scene and the games and contests of the amphitheatres, with one pupil given the role of the Emperor and the task of deciding who would live or die in the arena. Pupils also dressed as Roman Gods and various mythical characters and took part in a performance of Ulysses and the Cyclops which was based around the story of Ulysses and his battle with the hideous, one-eyed Cyclops, Polyphemous.

The RomansIn Britain

Follow us on Twitter @Lady_Royd Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com

NEWS FROM LADY ROYD

8

FUNDRAISING Harvest Festival In September children designed their own charity hamper boxes and filled them with the dried and tinned food they had collected. These were then donated to the Bradford Food Bank.

CLIC SargentDuring October Year 5 held bun sales at break times which raised just over £150 for CLIC Sargent, the children’s cancer charity.

The Poppy AppealLeading up to 11 November and Remembrance Day, Lady Royd children raised an impressive £125 for The Poppy Appeal which was donated to the Royal British Legion.

Children in Need Children came to school wearing self designed Children In Need T-shirts on Thursday 28 November. Sales from the T-shirts and collections throughout the day raised an incredible £400 complementing the magnificent fundraising efforts of the senior school.

World Aids DayTo mark World Aids Day on 1 December, children in Lady Royd donated £1 to the Aids Charity and enjoyed a non-uniform Friday. With the red Aids ribbons also on sale throughout the day staff and students raised just over £300.

On Thursday 17 October, Year 6 visited the Eden Camp in North Yorkshire as part of their history topic on World War II.

The camp comprises of around 30 huts, with each covering different themes from World War II. Each hut included various memorabilia with moving figures, displays and scenes that transported pupils back in time and provided a real insight into what life was like in war-time Britain. A particular favourite was Hut 5 with an authentic reconstruction of ‘The Blitz’ and the sights, sounds and smell of an aid raid.

A further highlight of the visit was the popular puppet show in the Music Hall and a World War II sing-along. ‘When I’m cleaning windows’ was performed by George Formby and Vera Lynn sang the war time favourite ‘We’ll meet again’, with everyone joining in.

‘The children certainly had an enjoyable and interesting day’ said Miss Wall. ‘The hands-on nature of the visit provided an excellent consolidation of their classroom work and helped to bring this history project to life’.

Back at school children continued their focus on World War II, coming to school dressed in 1940’s attire ready for their evacuation. The day included a re-enactment of the Blitz and a further study of what day to day life was like during the war with a 1940’s with Mrs Sands providing a real treat with her display of war time memorabilia.

EDEN CAMPAND WWII

THE HOUSE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT The final of the first Lady Royd Inter-house Football Tournament on 21 November saw an incredibly close match between the Blue house and the Yellow house with two magnificent goals by Mohammed Hassan which took the Blue’s to a deserved 2-0 victory. Now set to be a regular event, the idea came from two Year 6 boys Sufiyaan Abdullah and Uzair Ahmed, who wanted to hold a football tournament to raise money for charity. Well done to all who took part and to the parents who came to support their teams - together they raised £137 for Malawi.

Follow us on Twitter @Lady_Royd Tel: 01274 545 395 Web: www.bggs.com